DMZ

I have such serious subjects these days. We went to DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone which was created when the ceasefire was signed. The name is funny in the sense that there is almost nothing but military there. The borderline between South Korea and North Korea is called MDL, Military Demarcation Line. The area 2 kilometers to both directions from the MDL is DMZ, which is the most heavily guarded border in the world.

So, DMZ was created to act as a buffer zone between the countries during the peace negotiations. Those negotiations over 50 years later still haven't come to any conclusion. Honestly, what are they talking about there?

During our whole visit to the DMZ i was pretty grumpy... We had to leave from our dorm at 6 in the morning and I hadn't slept well the night before, so all the propaganda crap was just too much for me...

Over half of our group were Americans who seemingly enjoyed the praise of their almighty army and anti-North Koreanism (no, I don't think that is a real word) and laughed at all the anti-North Korean jokes there were told. The hell you laughing at?? Hey, we don't have anything better to do so let's go to the DMZ to laugh!

Please don't take my whining seriously.

But still. It's a real thing not a joke.

Back to the subject. DMZ. When we arrived there it looked creepy because many of the buildings and cabins and fences are from 1950's. It really looked like something that was supposed to end a long time ago but went on without a clear reason. Still this day the armies there are observing each other. Collecting information. Standing in their positions. Suspecting each other.

There do live also ordinary people though. In the DMZ there is a farmer village. Due to the inhabitants' dangerous living conditions their income is I don't remember how much, but many many times higher than other Korean farmers'. Also the college education is paid by the state. The only thing is that no one (except for women who marry a man living there) is allowed to move there. The people there have to be descendants of the inhabitants.

Another group of special inhabitants form the numerous species of animals and especially birds living there. Because many areas in the DMZ have been untouched by humans for the last 50 years, the areas have been perfect for wildlife. Some very rare bird species have been discovered there. Also I saw a big duck-looking bird running on a rice field.

After arriving there we went to an auditorium to sign papers that it's our own fault if we die there. We also listened to a presentation which of course wasn't objective. (Why do they wanna convert us to pro-war? Like our objective opinion would harm them somehow.)




Listening to bs.

Listening to more bs. No, I'm being too harsh. It wasn't that bad, just the little dash of propaganda spicing up the speech added to my grumpyness made it seem that way.

One of the interesting parts was when we went to Pamunjeom, the Joint Security area where the negotiations are held and where South Koreans and North Koreans meet.

View to the "temporary" negotiation houses. The blue houses are built by UN and the gray by North Korea. They are built on the MDL being on the ground of both countries.

This was just so weird... the way they watched North Korea. The soldiers were keeping an eye on the North Korean soldiers in case they would come running and attack. And some of the soldiers were standing half-way behind the house because then they have better cover if they're shot at.

View to the north.

View to the east.

View to the west.

We got to go inside the negotiation house. And it was weird again. There were two soldiers with taekwondo skills in the house preventing us to run out the door to North Korea. They didn't move or anything and it felt so weird to go and take pictures of them, but our guide just told us to go ahead.

Listening to the info about the negotiation houses.

Standing across the border on the North Korean side. Been to North Korea!

After the negotiation houses we went to a point that is surrounded by the MDL in three directions. In other words you can look 180° around you and only see North Korea.

View to North Korea.

View to North Korea. Because of the clouds it can't be seen in this picture but from the viewpoint you could see a tall jamming tower. North Koreans can't for example watch South Korean TV channels because of that. The level of isolation is just mad. Jamming towers... Why? Is opening to the world so bad a thing?

From that viewpoint you could also see the North Korean propaganda village. It is a group of empty houses and a crazy (world's tallest) flagpole with a HUGE North Korea flag with the diameter of 30 meters. In this picture the flag wasn't fluttering because it wasn't windy enough. The flag truly needs hard wind to flutter since it weighs 300 kg.




The Bridge of No Return. When the war prisoners were released they were given a chance to go to the country they wished through this bridge. But after making their choice they could never go back.

Taking pictures in the DMZ was very restricted. You could only take pictures in the designated areas and in this case only behind this yellow "photo line".

This was our guide, the funniest little Korean man :)

After watching North Korea we were taken to watch a video that I can't even describe... It was just so ridiculous that I don't have any words... On the video it was said: "Before the DMZ was a symbol of hatred and separation but now it is a peaceful place where people and nature live together in harmony." Then there was an animated butterfly that flied around and every time it touched something, flowers, trees, park benches and lamps started to grow. With great music on the background the video ended to the words: "DMZ is our home!" Right.

Our last destination was the "3rd tunnel" that North Korea dug in the 1970's for both conventional warfare and guerilla infiltration. All together 4 tunnels are found, but some believe that there could even be ten more.

The 3rd tunnel is a bit over 1,5 km long and it runs 75 m deep. It was the most threatening one since its only 44 km from Seoul and about 30 000 heavily-armed troops could pass per hour.

After the discovery of the tunnel North Korea claimed it to be for coal mining. Since there is no coal to be found there, North Korea painted the walls black in order to disguise it. However the planning of the tunnel and the dynamite holes revealed its true purpose.

Visitors were allowed to go there and we walked down a sloping tunnel to 75 m under the ground. I'm not claustrophobic but down there walking in crowd in a narrow and low tunnel in a dim light breathing stuffy air I felt a little bad at a moment. But I overcame the feeling.

It would have been nice to take pictures from there but we weren't allowed to take cameras with us. :/

When we were returning to Seoul in our bus I noticed how the fences and barbwire on the riverbanks of Hangang continued from DMZ all the way to Seoul. Seoul is truly close to the border, but you don't think about it here when you're living your everyday life.

So, what did I think about our visit to the DMZ? It was interesting. A bit annoying. But I would definitely recommend going there on a guided tour. You'll get more out of it and also sense the attitudes of the military personnel towards the situation.

What do I think about the DMZ and the current situation? It's ridiculous. I wonder how much money is spent on keeping up a military on a stupid border, especially when the situation isn't leading anywhere. If you look at what's been going on in the DMZ for the last decades you'll realise that North Korea has had no intentions of advancing the peace negotiations. Tunnels, commandos, assassins, soldiers crossing the border with or without an objective. All these actions are either for sabotaging South Korea, clowning around or even continuing the war.

Since the relationships between South Korea and North Korea are frozen at the moment we're just gonna have to wait and see what's gonna happen when the great Kim Jong-il passes and the power is handed over to one of his sons. Until that the same pointless shit, that has been going on for the last 50 years, is gonna go on.

Kamsa hamnida.